Computers and switches consume electricity and power for under-utilized links. If a computer or switch requires more bandwidth or needs fail-over Ethernet Links, one possible solution is a Link Aggregation Group (LAG). The administrators of the network (often the Information Technology staff) aggregate several Ethernet links together into a Link Aggregation Group (LAG) as defined in the IEEE 802.3ad standards. By setting up a LAG and utilizing these standards, the network will seemingly run on what looks like a single Media Access Controller (MAC) that distributes and load balances the Ethernet packets between the set of links in the LAG.
There is a need in the art for a power saving capability for a group of Ethernet Links in a LAG. Currently, all the links in a LAG are in a full or near full power state. A need exists to have a more efficient usage of links in a LAG.